“All right, I will,” he promised.
A voice sounded from the kitchen. “Mary Louise, could you do an errand for me? You’ll just have time before supper.”
“Yes, Mother,” replied the girl, jumping to her feet. Then in a whisper to her father she added, “Tell her while I’m gone.”
Picking up her coat again, she ran out into the kitchen.
“I want you to take this basket of jellies and fruit cake over to old Mrs. Detweiler,” said Mrs. Gay. “I think it would be nice for them to have the things earlier this year, because they have so little at Christmas time.”
“Yes it would, Mother,” agreed the girl absently.
“Ask them whether they’ve heard anything from Margaret,” added Mrs. Gay. “Maybe she’s coming home for Christmas.”
“She wasn’t home all summer, was she, Mother?”
“No. And they didn’t hear from her, either. They’re terribly worried. I can’t see why Margaret Detweiler would do a thing like that, when her grandparents have been so good to her all her life. Why, Mrs. Detweiler wore the same dress for five years just so she could put Margaret through high school. And the girl always seemed so grateful and affectionate, too.”
“Maybe something happened to her,” suggested Mary Louise.